PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A.M.M. Sonnenschein-van der Voort
AU  - V.W.V. Jaddoe
AU  - R.J.P. van der Valk
AU  - S.P. Willemsen
AU  - A. Hofman
AU  - H.A. Moll
AU  - J.C. de Jongste
AU  - L. Duijts
TI  - Duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding and childhood asthma-related symptoms
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00178110
DP  - 2012 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 81--89
VI  - 39
IP  - 1
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/39/1/81.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/39/1/81.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Jan 01; 39
AB  - The aim of our study was to examine the associations of breastfeeding duration and exclusiveness with the risks of asthma-related symptoms in preschool children, and to explore whether these associations are explained by atopic or infectious mechanisms. This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study of 5,368 children. Information on breastfeeding duration, exclusiveness and asthma-related symptoms, including wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm, was obtained by questionnaires. Compared with children who were breastfed for 6 months, those who were never breastfed had overall increased risks of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during the first 4 yrs (OR 1.44 (95% CI 1.24–1.66), 1.26 (1.07–1.48), 1.25 (1.08–1.44) and 1.57 (1.29–1.91), respectively). Similar associations were observed for exclusive breastfeeding. The strongest associations per symptom per year were observed for wheezing at 1 and 2 yrs. Additionally adjusted analyses showed that the associations of breastfeeding with asthma-related symptoms were not explained by eczema but partly by lower respiratory tract infections. Shorter duration and nonexclusivity of breastfeeding were associated with increased risks of asthma-related symptoms in preschool children. These associations seemed, at least partly, to be explained by infectious, but not by atopic, mechanisms.